The investment arm of Kuwait’s social-security system bought a luxury apartment building in Manhattan’s Noho neighborhood, as demand for multifamily properties surges, two people with knowledge of the deal said.

Wafra Investment Advisory Group Inc. last week completed the purchase of 2 Cooper Square, a 144-unit building that includes a rooftop pool, video-game center and private movie- screening room, said the people, who didn’t disclose the price and asked not to be named because the deal hasn’t been made public. The owner was Atlantic Development Group LLC, a Manhattan-based builder that finished the tower in 2010, according to the property website.

“The rental market is so competitive in New York and newer buildings are going to be the most competitive,” Ben Thypin, director of market analysis for Real Capital Analytics Inc., said in an interview.

Ben Carlos Thypin

I am currently the co-founder of Quantierra, the world's first data driven real estate brokerage and investment manager. In my former life as Director of Market Analysis at Real Capital Analytics, I worked with press outlets large and small to provide them with great data and insightful commentary. Here are some of the results of this collaboration. For the rest, please check out the News Archive.